Gulfport, MS: Prevent Cruel Dolphin Captivity!

Around the world, people are coming to understand that dolphin captivity is animal cruelty. The dolphin is an extremely intelligent mammal, regarded by scientists as being very close in brain aptitude levels to humans, and is both self-aware and highly emotional. They live in complex social structures with family members often staying together throughout their lives.

In every way, they are completely unsuited to captivity and life imprisonment in a tank.

Around the world, dolphin captivity is in decline. In India, dolphins have been categorized as "non-human persons" and holding dolphins in captivity as menial "entertainment" has been forbidden. Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Costa Rica, Chile, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland all have banned the keeping of dolphins in captivity. While just last week, in March 2017, the Vancouver Aquarium unanimously voted to ban the display of all cetaceans.

With increasing pressure put on dolphin exhibits by activists and the declining attendance at SeaWorld due to the world waking up regarding the inherent cruelty of marine mammal captivity, there is no sensical reason for the proposed Gulfport Aquarium to include dolphins in its plans. Hasn't Gulfport, where dolphins naturally live in the waters off the coast, learned its lesson after the disastrous situation it found itself in with captive cetaceans after Hurricane Katrina?

It is a travesty that in today's day and age the City of Gulfport, Mississippi is considering including jailed dolphins as part of the proposed Gulfport Aquarium facility. With countries and aquaria around the world turning their back on the unnecessary cruelty of dolphin captivity, Gulfport is surprisingly and intentionally heading down a slippery path of investing in a doomed future based on an antiquated and backward mentality.

Help put an end to the horrible suffering of dolphins famously documented in the film The Cove and demand that the proposed Gulfport Aquarium be dolphin-free.